KARACHI: Sindh High Court (SHC) Chief Justice Maqbool Baqar granted on Monday protective bail to Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F) MNA Ghous Bux Mahar.

MNA Mahar has been booked for allegedly holding an illegal jirga to settle the double murder of two girls allegedly killed for honour in Shikarpur. Granting protective bail to the sum of Rs500,000, the bench further ordered him to surrender before the trial case, where a criminal case against him is up for trial within 10 days.

On March 19, Chief Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani had taken suo motu notice of media reports about two women of the Mahar tribe allegedly killed by their parents for what they suspected was having relations with men of the Jagirani tribe.

The Jagiranis were fined Rs2.4 million for allegedly kidnapping and having relations with the women. The jirga was held to settle the dispute. While both parties accepted the jirga’s decision, no one was penalised for murdering the women.

Mahar had approached the high court to seek protective bail to avoid arrest by the Lakhi Ghulam Shah police, who registered a case against him on the directives of CJ Jillani.

Lakhi Ghulam Shah police in Shikarpur district had registered an FIR No 24/2014 for the offence. A team of lawyers, including Abdul Hafeez Pirzada, Abdul Sattar Pirzada and Sameer Ghazanfar, informed the court that the applicant would be satisfied if he is granted transitory protective bail as it would enable him to surrender before the relevant trial court and would also allow him to join the investigations.

Mahar’s lawyers maintained that no order for the arrest of the applicant have been passed by the apex court. Without touching on the merits of the case, said Justice Baqar, the applicant is granted transitory protective bail subject to furnishing a surety in the sum of Rs500,000 million.

Express Tribune